Forced-choice Recognition Research Articles

The Relationship Between Default Mode and Dorsal Attention Networks Is Associated With Depressive Disorder Diagnosis and the Strength of Memory Representations Acquired Prior to the Resting State Scan.

Previous research indicates that individuals with depressive disorders (DD) have aberrant resting state functional connectivity and may experience memory dysfunction. While resting state functional connectivity may be affected by experiences preceding the resting state scan, little is known about this relationship in individuals with DD. Our study examined this question in the context of object memory. 52 individuals with DD and 45 healthy controls (HC) completed clinical interviews, and a memory encoding task followed by a forced-choice recognition test. A 5-min resting state fMRI scan was administered immediately after the forced-choice task. Resting state networks were identified using group Independent Component Analysis across all participants. A network modeling analysis conducted on 22 networks using FSLNets examined the interaction effect of diagnostic status and memory accuracy on the between-network connectivity. We found that this interaction significantly affected the relationship between the network comprised of the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and hippocampal formation and the network comprised of the inferior temporal, parietal, and prefrontal cortices. A stronger positive correlation between these two networks was observed in individuals with DD who showed higher memory accuracy, while a stronger negative correlation (i.e., anticorrelation) was observed in individuals with DD who showed lower memory accuracy prior to resting state. No such effect was observed for HC. The former network cross-correlated with the default mode network (DMN), and the latter cross-correlated with the dorsal attention network (DAN). Considering that the DMN and DAN typically anticorrelate, we hypothesize that our findings indicate aberrant reactivation and consolidation processes that occur after the task is completed. Such aberrant processes may lead to continuous “replay” of previously learned, but currently irrelevant, information and underlie rumination in depression.

An exploratory study of the convergent validity of the Test of Effort (TOE) in adults with acquired brain injury

ABSTRACT Primary Objective To examine the convergent validity of the Test of Effort (TOE), a performance validity test (PVT) currently under development that employs a two-subtest (one verbal, one visual), forced-choice recognition memory format. Research Design A descriptive, correlational design was employed to describe performance on the TOE and examine the convergent validity between the TOE and comparison measures. Methods and Procedures A sample of 53 individuals with chronic acquired brain injury (ABI) were administered the TOE and three well-validated PVTs (Reliable Digit Span [RDS], Test of Memory Malingering [TOMM] and Dot Counting Test [DCT]). Main Outcomes and Results The TOE appeared more difficult than it actually was, suggesting adequate face validity. Medium-to-large correlations were observed between the TOE and established PVTs, suggesting good convergent validity. Provisional cutoff scores are offered based on performance of a subgroup of participants with “sufficient effort.” Conclusions Overall, the TOE shows promise as a PVT measure for clinical use. Future studies with larger and more diverse samples are needed to more fully determine the psychometric characteristics of the TOE.

Task demands determine whether shape or arousal of a stimulus modulates competition for visual working memory resources

It has been posited (Öhman, 1986) that the processing of threatening stimuli became prioritized during the course of mammalian evolution and that such objects may still enjoy an advantage in visual processing to this day. It has been well-documented that both mid-level visual features (i.e., conjunctions of low-level features) and the arousal level of threatening stimuli affect attentional allocation (Cisler & Koster, 2010; Wolfe & Horowitz, 2004). Despite this, few studies have investigated the effect these factors have on visual working memory resources. Here, we investigated these factors using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm, and by manipulating mid-level features (specifically, shape: similar vs. dissimilar) and the arousal level (non-threatening vs threatening) of the stimuli. Participants watched an RSVP stream in preparation for an upcoming memory test. Then, they completed a two-alternative forced-choice recognition memory test (with semantically matched foils) wherein they had to identify which item they had seen in the RSVP stream. Our results showed that when shape was a sufficient feature to discriminate the target from the other items in the stream, there was no effect of arousal (i.e., threat level) on reaction time or accuracy during the memory test. However, when the shapes of all the stimuli in the visual stream were highly similar, an effect of arousal appeared: When the target had a different arousal level than the background items (i.e., non-targets), performance was improved. Together, the results suggest that both mid-level visual features and arousal level can modulate competition for visual working memory resources.

Effects of mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss and signal amplification on vocal emotion recognition in middle-aged–older individuals

Previous research has shown deficits in vocal emotion recognition in sub-populations of individuals with hearing loss, making this a high priority research topic. However, previous research has only examined vocal emotion recognition using verbal material, in which emotions are expressed through emotional prosody. There is evidence that older individuals with hearing loss suffer from deficits in general prosody recognition, not specific to emotional prosody. No study has examined the recognition of non-verbal vocalization, which constitutes another important source for the vocal communication of emotions. It might be the case that individuals with hearing loss have specific difficulties in recognizing emotions expressed through prosody in speech, but not non-verbal vocalizations. We aim to examine whether vocal emotion recognition difficulties in middle- aged-to older individuals with sensorineural mild-moderate hearing loss are better explained by deficits in vocal emotion recognition specifically, or deficits in prosody recognition generally by including both sentences and non-verbal expressions. Furthermore a, some of the studies which have concluded that individuals with mild-moderate hearing loss have deficits in vocal emotion recognition ability have also found that the use of hearing aids does not improve recognition accuracy in this group. We aim to examine the effects of linear amplification and audibility on the recognition of different emotions expressed both verbally and non-verbally. Besides examining accuracy for different emotions we will also look at patterns of confusion (which specific emotions are mistaken for other specific emotion and at which rates) during both amplified and non-amplified listening, and we will analyze all material acoustically and relate the acoustic content to performance. Together these analyses will provide clues to effects of amplification on the perception of different emotions. For these purposes, a total of 70 middle-aged-older individuals, half with mild-moderate hearing loss and half with normal hearing will perform a computerized forced-choice vocal emotion recognition task with and without amplification.

Implicit prototype learning in patients with memory deficit: Evidence from a study with Alzheimer's disease patients.

In a previous study (Zannino et al., 2012), it was demonstrated that individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were unimpaired on a new prototype learning task consisting of morphed faces (face prototype learning task [FPLT]). This paradigm was devised to improve on the classical dot pattern task by ruling out any reliance on residual episodic memory or working memory resources. In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate: first, that people with even more severe episodic memory impairment than MCI are unimpaired on a fully implicit prototype learning task and second, that the dot pattern task, at variance with the FPLT, requires a no negligible contribution from the episodic memory system. Twenty-four persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 48 healthy controls took part in this experiment. As in the original study, in addition to the FPLT, they were also administered the classical dot pattern task and an ordinary forced-choice face recognition task. AD performed like normal controls in the FPLT but scored significantly worse on the dot pattern task and the face recognition task. Interestingly, although performance on the face recognition task did not correlate with that on the FPLT, a significant correlation was observed between the face recognition and the dot pattern task. Results support both of our claims: first, that also severe amnesic people can learn new visual prototypes with a fully implicit paradigm and, second, that the classical dot pattern task requires some degree of episodic resources. Further research is needed to rule out the role of working memory in solving the FPLT. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive Status & Dementia Severity in CVLT-II-SF Forced Choice Recognition: Implications for Effort Assessment

Effort testing is critical to neuropsychological practice, including dementia assessment. Questions exist around whether cognitive status or impairment severity impacts effort test performance in this population. Presently, we examined whether scores on an embedded effort test - the California Verbal Learning Test II Short Form (CVLT-II-SF) Forced Choice Recognition (FCR) - differed across diagnostic cognitive status groups and how severity of impairment modulated test performance. In a sample of memory clinic patients, three cognitive status groups were identified: subjective cognitive impairment (SCI; n = 92), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI; n = 18), and dementia due to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD; n = 70). Significant group differences in FCR performance were observed using one-way ANOVA (p < .001), with post-hoc analysis indicating the AD group performed significantly worse scores than the other groups. Using multiple regression, FCR performance was modelled as a function of cognitive status, impairment severity indexed MMSE, and their interaction, with a parallel analysis for the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDR-SOB) scores as an alternate severity measure. Results yielded significant main effects for MMSE (p = 0.019) and cognitive status (p = 0.026), as well as a significant interaction (p = 0.021). Thus, increases in impairment severity disproportionately impaired FCR performance for persons with AD, calling into question research-based cut scores for effort determination in dementia contexts. Corresponding CDR-SOB analyses were non-significant. Future research should examine whether CVLT-II-SF-FCR is an appropriately specific inclusion in a best-practice testing battery for evaluating effort in dementia populations.

Musical instrument familiarity affects statistical learning of tone sequences

Most listeners have an implicit understanding of the rules that govern how music unfolds over time. This knowledge is acquired in part through statistical learning, a robust learning mechanism that allows individuals to extract regularities from the environment. However, it is presently unclear how this prior musical knowledge might facilitate or interfere with the learning of novel tone sequences that do not conform to familiar musical rules. In the present experiment, participants listened to novel, statistically structured tone sequences composed of pitch intervals not typically found in Western music. Between participants, the tone sequences either had the timbre of artificial, computerized instruments or familiar instruments (piano or violin). Knowledge of the statistical regularities was measured as by a two-alternative forced choice recognition task, requiring discrimination between novel sequences that followed versus violated the statistical structure, assessed at three time points (immediately post-training, as well as one day and one week post-training). Compared to artificial instruments, training on familiar instruments resulted in reduced accuracy. Moreover, sequences from familiar instruments – but not artificial instruments – were more likely to be judged as grammatical when they contained intervals that approximated those commonly used in Western music, even though this cue was non-informative. Overall, these results demonstrate that instrument familiarity can interfere with the learning of novel statistical regularities, presumably through biasing memory representations to be aligned with Western musical structures. These results demonstrate that real-world experience influences statistical learning in a non-linguistic domain, supporting the view that statistical learning involves the continuous updating of existing representations, rather than the establishment of entirely novel ones.

How recent learning shapes the brain: Memory-dependent functional reconfiguration of brain circuits

The process of storing recently encoded episodic mnestic traces so that they are available for subsequent retrieval is accompanied by specific brain functional connectivity (FC) changes. In this fMRI study, we examined the early processing of memories in twenty-eight healthy participants performing an episodic memory task interposed between two resting state sessions. Memory performance was assessed through a forced-choice recognition test after the scanning sessions.We investigated resting state system configuration changes via Independent Component Analysis by cross-modeling baseline resting state spatial maps onto the post-encoding resting state, and post-encoding resting state spatial maps onto baseline.We identified both persistent and plastic components of the overall brain functional configuration between baseline and post-encoding. While FC patterns within executive, default mode, and cerebellar circuits persisted from baseline to post-encoding, FC within the visual circuit changed. A significant session × performance interaction characterized medial temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex FC with the visual circuit, as well as thalamic FC within the executive control system.Findings reveal early-stage FC changes at the system-level subsequent to a learning experience and associated with inter-individual variation in memory performance.

Bilingual advantage in L3 vocabulary acquisition: evidence of a generalized learning benefit among classroom-immersion children

AbstractThe present study explored whether emergent bilingual children showed enhanced abilities to learn L3 vocabulary including written, spoken and conceptual forms compared to monolinguals, and the impact of L2/L3 cross-language similarities on such an effect. To this end, we contrasted the English word learning performance of French fifth-graders attending either a monolingual school program or a classroom-immersion program with German as an L2. Half of the items to be learned were German/English (L2/L3) cognate words while the other half were monolingual English (L3) words. Learning was assessed with a forced-choice recognition task, a go/no-go auditive recognition task and an orthographic judgment task. Results yielded a generalized bilingual advantage, with classroom-immersion children outperforming monolinguals on all tasks, irrespective of cognateness, except for the orthographic task. These findings advocate for a bilingual advantage in children that is globally not driven by the specific language properties of cognates, except for the written modality.

Developmental Differences in Subjective Recollection and Its Role in Decision Making.

We examined how subjective assessments of recollection guide decision making. Subjective recollection was dissociated from accuracy during a forced-choice recognition task. Distracters were either similar to targets (match condition) or to other studied, but untested items (nonmatch condition). We assessed 223 participants (112 males) across three experiments (137 White, 37 Asian-American, 7 African-American, 4 American-Indian, 32 mixed race, 6 undisclosed). In Experiment 1, 6- to 10-year-olds and adults (N = 119) were less accurate (d = 0.70), but more likely to claim subjective recollection and make memory selections in anticipation of a reward in the nonmatch condition (ds = 0.64-0.70). This pattern was eliminated in 6- to 7-year-olds when we limited the number of selections (Experiment 2, N = 52), but was replicated when we required the selections to be counted (Experiment 3, N = 52), underscoring the effects of decision complexity on children's self-reflections.

Cross-validation of a forced-choice validity indicator to enhance the clinical utility of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test.

A forced-choice (FC) recognition trial was recently developed as an embedded validity indicator for the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), although it has not been replicated outside of the initial validation study. This study cross-validated the RAVLT FC trial for detecting invalid neuropsychological test performance and assessed the degree to which material-specific verbal memory impairment severity impacts its classification accuracy as a performance validity test (PVT). This cross-sectional study included 172 neuropsychiatric patients who completed the RAVLT and 4 independent criterion PVTs, which were used to classify validity groups (134 valid/38 invalid). Overall results showed the RAVLT FC had excellent classification accuracy for detecting invalid performance at a ≤13 cut-score (66% sensitivity/87% specificity). When patients were subdivided by memory impairment status, FC retained excellent classification accuracy among the normal memory and mild memory impairment groups with 66%-82% sensitivity and ≥89% specificity. Accuracy decreased among those with severe memory impairment, but remained significant with a lower, alternative cut-score of ≤11 (37% sensitivity/88% specificity). Findings were consistent with FC trials developed for other memory measures and support the utility of this novel RAVLT FC index for reliably identifying invalid performance, even in the context of significant verbal memory impairment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Directing attention to event changes improves memory updating for older adults.

People use memory for observed actions to guide current perceptions. When actions change from one situation to the next, one must register the change to update memory. Research suggests that older adults may sometimes update memory for naturalistic action changes less effectively than younger adults. We examined whether this deficit reflects age differences in attention allocation by cuing attention to changed action features and testing memory for those features. Older (N = 47) and younger (N = 73) adults watched movies of an actor performing everyday activities on two fictive "days" in her life. Some activities began identically on both days (e.g., reaching for dessert) and ended with features that changed across days (e.g., cookie vs. brownie). Half of the changed activities included audio-visual cues on both days that signaled changed features, whereas the other half did not include cues. Memory updating was assessed through cued recall and two-alternative forced choice recognition (2AFC recognition) of recent action features. Cuing attention improved cued recall but not 2AFC recognition of recent action features for both older and younger adults. These recall benefits were associated with improved recollection that changes had earlier occurred. The present findings suggest that although older adults sometimes experience deficits in aspects of attention, using cues to guide their attention to features of everyday activities can enhance their event memory updating when the later memory test emphasizes recollection-based retrieval. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Adaptation and initial validation of the Arabic version of the Word Memory Test (WMTARB)

Background The feigning of cognitive impairment is common in neuropsychological assessments, especially in a medicolegal setting. The Word Memory Test (WMT) is a forced-choice recognition memory performance validity test (PVT) which is widely used to detect noncredible performance. Though translated to several languages, this was not done for one of the most common languages, Arabic. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the convergent validity of the Arabic adaptation of the WMT (WMTARB) among Israeli Arabic speakers. Methods We adapted the WMT to Arabic using the back-translation method and in accordance with relevant guidelines. We then randomly assigned healthy Arabic speaking adults (N = 63) to either a simulation or honest control condition. The participants then performed neuropsychological tests which included the WMTARB and the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), a well-validated nonverbal PVT. Results The WMTARB had high split-half reliability and its measures were significantly correlated with that of the TOMM (p < .001). High concordance was found in classification of participants using the WMTARB and TOMM (specificity = 94.29% and sensitivity = 100% using the conventional TOMM trial 2 cutoff as gold standard). As expected, simulators' accuracy on the WMTARB was significantly lower than that of honest controls. None of the demographic variables significantly correlated with WMTARB measures. Conclusion The WMTARB shows initial evidence of reliability and validity, emphasizing its potential use in the large population of Arabic speakers and universality in detecting noncredible performance. The findings, however, are preliminary and mandate validation in clinical settings.

Flipping the Script: Measuring Both Performance Validity and Cognitive Ability with the Forced Choice Recognition Trial of the RCFT.

In this study we attempted to replicate the classification accuracy of the newly introduced Forced Choice Recognition trial (FCR) of the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) in a clinical sample. We administered the RCFT FCR and the earlier Yes/No Recognition trial from the RCFT to 52 clinically referred patients as part of a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery and incentivized a separate control group of 83 university students to perform well on these measures. We then computed the classification accuracies of both measures against criterion performance validity tests (PVTs) and compared results between the two samples. At previously published validity cutoffs (≤16 & ≤17), the RCFT FCR remained specific (.84–1.00) to psychometrically defined non-credible responding. Simultaneously, the RCFT FCR was more sensitive to examinees’ natural variability in visual-perceptual and verbal memory skills than the Yes/No Recognition trial. Even after being reduced to a seven-point scale (18-24) by the validity cutoffs, both RCFT recognition scores continued to provide clinically useful information on visual memory. This is the first study to validate the RCFT FCR as a PVT in a clinical sample. Our data also support its use for measuring cognitive ability. Replication studies with more diverse samples and different criterion measures are still needed before large-scale clinical application of this scale.

The Development and Validation of the Embedded Validity Indicator for the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an embedded measure of performance validity within the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB). This study involved a retrospective chart review at an outpatient neuropsychology clinic. Participants were 183 adults (ages 18-70) who completed the attention and memory modules of the NAB, as well as the Word Choice Test, Green's Medical Symptom Validity Test (MSVT), and Green's Non-Verbal MSVT, as part of a clinical neuropsychological assessment (n=147) or as part of a forensic neuropsychological evaluation (n=36). Replicating methodology utilized by Silverberg etal. (2007) for the development of the Effort Index within the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, an Embedded Validity Indictor (EVI) for the NAB was developed in the present study based on Digits Forward and List Learning Long Delayed Forced-Choice Recognition (list recognition) subtests. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses indicated the newly developed NAB EVI was able to significantly differentiate between valid and invalid status on stand-alone performance-validity tests, with area under the curve values ranging from 0.797 to 0.977. Optimal cutoffs for medical, forensic, and mixed samples were identified. The newly developed NAB EVI shows promise as an embedded performance validity measure; however, due to moderate sensitivity, it should be used in combination with stand-alone performance validity tests to detect invalid performance.

Response Time Measures as Supplementary Validity Indicators in Forced-Choice Recognition Memory Performance Validity Tests: A Systematic Review.

Performance validity tests (PVTs) based on the forced-choice recognition memory (FCRM) paradigm are commonly used for the detection of noncredible performance. Examinees' response times (RTs) are affected by cognitive processes associated with deception and can also be gathered without lengthening the duration of the assessment. Consequently, interest in the utility of these measures as supplementary validity indicators in FCRM-PVTs has grown over the years. The current systematic review summarizes both clinical and simulation (i.e., healthy participants simulating cognitive impairment) studies of RTs in FCRM-PVTs. The findings of 25 peer-reviewed articles (n = 26 empirical studies) indicate that noncredible performance in FCRM-PVTs is associated with longer RTs. Additionally, there are indications that noncredible performance is associated with larger variability in RTs. RT measures, however, have lower discrimination capacity than conventional accuracy measures. Their utility may therefore lie in reaching decisions regarding cases with border zone accuracy scores, as well as aiding in the detection of more sophisticated examinees who are aware of the use of accuracy-based validity indicators in FCRM-PVTs. More research, however, is required before these measures are incorporated in daily practice and clinical decision-making processes.

The effect of verbal priming of visual attention styles in 4- to 9-year-old children

The way humans attend to their visual field differs profoundly between individuals. Previous research suggests that people tend to have either an analytic style, with a higher focus on the salient object of a scene, or a holistic style, characterized by higher attention to a scene's contextual information. Although a general assumption in many studies has been that these attention styles are socialized in social interaction during childhood, not much work has focused on the proximal mechanisms underlying this development. This study focuses on language as a potential cultural tool to habitualize ways of perceiving the world and investigates whether the visual attention of 4- to 9-year-old children can be experimentally manipulated via verbal primes that accentuate either analytic or holistic processing. Results indicate that verbal priming is effective in guiding children's gaze behavior in an eye-tracking task and their verbal accounts in a picture description task, but it only influences the way visual scenes are remembered in a forced-choice recognition task after own verbal productions. In concert with previous cross-cultural and correlational studies, these findings provide convergent evidence for the assumption that verbal attention guidance plays an important role in the socialization of attention styles.

Normal cognitive test scores cannot be interpreted as accurate measures of ability in the context of failed performance validity testing: A symptom- and detection-coached simulation study

ABSTRACT Introduction: While use of performance validity tests (PVTs) has become a standard of practice in neuropsychology, there are differing opinions regarding whether to interpret cognitive test data when standard scores fall within normal limits despite PVTs being failed. This study is the first to empirically determine whether normal cognitive test scores underrepresent functioning when PVTs are failed. Method: Participants, randomly assigned to either a simulated malingering group (n = 50) instructed to mildly suppress test performances or a best-effort/control group (n = 50), completed neuropsychological tests which included the North American Adult Reading Test (NAART), California Verbal Learning Test – 2nd Edition (CVLT-II), and Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM). Results: Groups were not significantly different in age, sex, education, or NAART predicted intellectual ability, but simulators performed significantly worse than controls on the TOMM, CVLT-II Forced Choice Recognition, and CVLT-II Short Delay Free Recall. The groups did not significantly differ on other examined CVLT-II measures. Of simulators who failed validity testing, 36% scored no worse than average and 73% scored no worse than low average on any of the examined CVLT-II indices. Conclusions: Of simulated malingerers who failed validity testing, nearly three-fourths were able to produce cognitive test scores that were within normal limits, which indicates that normal cognitive performances cannot be interpreted as accurately reflecting an individual’s capabilities when obtained in the presence of validity test failure. At the same time, only 2 of 50 simulators were successful in passing validity testing while scoring within an impaired range on cognitive testing. This latter finding indicates that successfully feigning cognitive deficits is difficult when PVTs are utilized within the examination.

Impaired Recognition of Facial and Vocal Emotions in Mild Cognitive Impairment.

The ability to recognize others' emotions is a central aspect of socioemotional functioning. Emotion recognition impairments are well documented in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, but it is less understood whether they are also present in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Results on facial emotion recognition are mixed, and crucially, it remains unclear whether the potential impairments are specific to faces or extend across sensory modalities. In the current study, 32 MCI patients and 33 cognitively intact controls completed a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment and two forced-choice emotion recognition tasks, including visual and auditory stimuli. The emotion recognition tasks required participants to categorize emotions in facial expressions and in nonverbal vocalizations (e.g., laughter, crying) expressing neutrality, anger, disgust, fear, happiness, pleasure, surprise, or sadness. MCI patients performed worse than controls for both facial expressions and vocalizations. The effect was large, similar across tasks and individual emotions, and it was not explained by sensory losses or affective symptomatology. Emotion recognition impairments were more pronounced among patients with lower global cognitive performance, but they did not correlate with the ability to perform activities of daily living. These findings indicate that MCI is associated with emotion recognition difficulties and that such difficulties extend beyond vision, plausibly reflecting a failure at supramodal levels of emotional processing. This highlights the importance of considering emotion recognition abilities as part of standard neuropsychological testing in MCI, and as a target of interventions aimed at improving social cognition in these patients.

The Effects of Cognitive Load on Strategy Utilization in a Forced-Choice Recognition Memory Performance Validity Test

Abstract. Despite the importance of detecting feigned cognitive impairment, we have a limited understanding of the theoretical foundation of the phenomenon and the factors that affect it. Studies regarding the formation and implementation of feigning strategies during neuropsychological assessments are numbered, though there are indications that they tax cognitive resources. The current study assessed the effect of cognitive load manipulation on feigning strategies. To achieve this aim, we utilized a 2 × 2 experimental design; condition (simulators/honest responders) and cognitive load (load/no load) were manipulated while participants ( N = 154) performed a well-established performance validity test (PVT). The cognitive load manipulation reduced the quantity of feigning strategies, while also affecting their composition (i.e., strategies tended to be more intuitive). This suggests that reduced cognitive resources among those feigning cognitive impairment may impact the use of in-vivo feigning strategies. These findings, though preliminary, will hopefully encourage further research that will uncover the cognitive factors involved in the utilization of feigning strategies in neuropsychological assessments.